Like engineering itself, engineering education thrives on innovation. To launch the academic and industry leaders of tomorrow, we must continue to innovate the educational experience. The Center for Engineering Education in the Cockrell School of Engineering conducts research on learning and retention and puts the results into practice for UT Austin students.
What We Do
Research and Evaluation
- Center for Engineering Education faculty conduct research studies on retention, diversity and learning in engineering. Current projects include a study of undergraduate student identity development, a study of how research and teaching assistantships impact graduate student completion rates and job placement, studies of engineering transfer student success factors and a study to help engineering instructors implement innovative, evidence-based teaching without fear of student resistance.
- The center also assists with engineering educational initiatives by providing expertise and evaluation services. We are currently working with a Research Experience for Undergraduates site and with the National Instruments Student Project Center and affiliated maker facilities.
Current and Future Faculty Development and Support
- The center jointly administers a graduate certificate in engineering education for Texas Engineering graduate students interested in faculty careers.
- The center administers a number of formal faculty development programs, including teacher training and support for the Engineer Your World high school curriculum and the Systemic Change Institute.
- The center also supports and meets with Texas Engineering faculty members about their education and outreach projects as needed.
Advocacy and Consulting
- The center works with individual faculty and Cockrell School staff to provide innovative, evidence-based educational experiences and student services to Texas Engineering students.
Program for Students
- The center offers the Engineer Your World dual-enrollment program for high school students and the Engineer Your World curriculum to high schools.
- The center administers a certificate program for graduate students.
Four Levels of Focus
1. Developing High School Engineering Curricula
The UT-developed Engineer Your World high school curriculum is now being offered in over 300 high schools nationwide, and, every summer, new teachers come to the UT Austin campus to learn how to teach this curriculum. An online, dual-enrollment program was offered for the first time in 2016 and is now being expanded to national scale.
2. Improving Undergraduate Education
The center advises and assists the Cockrell School and others on a variety of initiatives, including internal grants to faculty for course-based improvements, assessments of the learning experience in our National Instruments Student Project Center and affiliated maker facilities and exploring possibilities for improving the first-year experience.
3. Preparing Graduate Students for Faculty Positions
Engineering graduate students interested in becoming faculty members can earn a graduate certificate in engineering education. Certificate requirements include coursework on teaching engineering, designing curriculum and assessing learning; a mentored teaching experience; and preparing a teaching portfolio for job applications.
4. Training Faculty to be Change Leaders
The center also coordinates the Systemic Change Institute, a national yearlong program that trains teams of faculty and administrators working on undergraduate education change initiatives at their institutions. The program is uniquely focused on team-based change efforts and lasts a full academic year, with each team assigned to a mentor who is a former university dean, president or provost.
Partner With Us
To learn more or to support the Center for Engineering Education, visit sites.utexas.edu/cee, or contact professor Maura Borrego, center director, at
